Tel Me More
by regency in ruin
Summary: Avoid spacing out in a Buddhist temple, it may make you think of a strange place known as Togenkyo, and give french fries to strangers....modern weapons don't work so well.
1. Ichi

Tel Me More

_Now I can say, I own nothing that is easily recognizable as being Saiyuki. If it isn't easily recognizable, then obviously I haven't done my job. _

Pulling left out of the driveway, I drove away from the lights of the town, and onto some side roads. I'd rather be alone in the car than at home. Less space for someone to hide—and yes, I had already checked out the back seat. No Urban Legends type happenings here. The dog part was nasty enough, but when they killed off Michael Rosenbaum…

I turned into the Dairy Queen drive-through and ordered myself a diet Coke and two orders of French fries. After speedy service, I was back on the road, the fries on the seat next to me, sealed in a bag. 

Stopping at the red light, I wondered where I was going. These streets were quiet, streetlamps illuminating the empty road, the soft sounds of _Saints and Sailors_ breaking the silence within. 

I made a quick decision to turn right, not bothering to signal. I drove slowly down the peaceful street, out of respect for what it held. The Wanji Buddhist Temple. Personally, I wasn't a Buddhist, but my old Internet buddy Christo was, and this was his Temple. We'd meet sometimes for a talk and some meditation. With the turmoil going at home, it was becoming as much of a home as the house, if not more. Not quite the Beaumont. 

Swinging into the lot, I left the car near the middle. Getting out, I locked the doors and walked to the side door of the Temple, drink in one hand and bag in the other. Pulling it open carefully, I stepped just inside. Slipping off my shoes, I set down my takeout and stored the shoes in a wooden slot. Picking the stuff back up, I wandered from the foyer into the inner room. Waiting a moment, I heard the slow shuffle of someone coming down the stairs. 

"Welcome, Tel." He folded his hands in front of him, bowing slightly. 

I bowed my head to him in return. "Chen," I cleared my throat, but kept it to a whisper, "is Christo here?" 

He nodded slowly. "Yes, Tel. He is in his office. You may go see him now." 

Smiling in thanks, I turned back around and reached in my Dairy Queen bag. Pulling out one of the orders of fries, I waved it enticingly. "I hope you're not on a hunger fast, Chen. I have fries for you." 

Taking the cardboard container carefully, Chen smiled. "Thank you, Tel. Blessings on your journey." He turned to go back up the stairs to his quarters. 

I frowned. Journey? I wasn't go anywhere. This might be the same thing I felt back at home. Shrugging off the feeling, I rubbed my arm through my coat. My scars usually started to ache when I had one of these feelings. This was no different.

Pushing open the glass door to the offices, I walked down silently towards Christo's. Since he's been there for so long, and he lived in with Chen and a few other monks, he gained an office to do serious counselling in. Lucky for me, I needed it. 

"Christo?" I poked my head around the door, hoping that he wasn't busy. He looked up from the book on the desk.

"Tel! What a wonderful surprise! Come in, come in," he stood up and beckoned me in. I smiled and left the door open. Propriety or something. Setting the fast food bag and the pop on the edge of his desk, I sat down in a chair opposite his desk. 

"Something wrong, Tel?" Christo sat down again, laying his pen in the spine of the book.

I sighed, not sure how to begin. "Yes, but no more so than the usual."

"Usual?" He raised an eyebrow; its darkness clearly defined against his shaven head. "Tel, did you…"

Nodding, I cut the rest of his sentence off. "I'm sorry, Christo."

"Do not apologize to me, Tel. All of life is suffering." His dark brown eyes stared into my own hazel ones.

"But I'm not supposed to cause it myself, right? Wait, just wanting to be happy is suffering." I leaned back, crossing my leg over so the ankle rested on the knee. 

"The desire to be happy is often causing your pain, yes." He leaned back as well in the plain wooden chair. "Forgive me if I assume incorrectly, but you did not come to debate theology." 

I balanced the chair on its back legs, giving myself more room from Christo's examination and the issue at hand. "No, I didn't. It's just…I can't help feeling like I'm someone else."

"How so?" 

"Like there's something missing. Like I'm doing something wrong. Like I shouldn't be here, I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"That ties in with my theory," Christo said almost to himself, looking at the open journal on his desk.

"What?" I frowned. I never heard of his theories before, he'd kept them all secretly written in that book.

"Well, we're obviously not alone." Christo shrugged, then continued, tapping his pen against the page of his journal. "There is somewhere else; we pass into it after we die. Nirvana." 

"And this has to do with…" I spread my hands wide, waiting for his explanation.

"There are two aspects of each of us. One is here, in this world. Two is in another world much like this one, yet it is home to both the realistic and the fantastical."

"Like Narnia?" 

"Slightly, yes. Only it is more like the world we exist in that. So, depending on the augmentation of the two pieces of your soul—"

"Wait. Pieces of my soul?" This was getting confusing.

"Yes. Two pieces. Similar to good and evil, nearly equal measuring of both qualities. So this one here could be the 'good' twin, and the other existing in the 'Narnia' is evil."

"Oh." I nodded thoughtfully. Christo continued. 

"Yes. So, this soul, the one here, could be either good or evil. Now, you personally, Tel Tyler, are here. The other part is in Shangri-la. The 'Narnia.' You have no choice in which world you live in." His disdain on the word Narnia is becoming clearer as he continues to use it.

"Then, after you reach enlightenment, you depart for Nirvana, leaving the other to be tormented forever, reincarnation after reincarnation, until it becomes more pure and reaches Nirvana, where the souls combine and become one."

I tipped my head to the side. "That must not be a Buddhist teaching. I've never heard of that before." 

"I've been busy," Christo explained, sitting back after his speech. 

"One question, though, Christo." 

He nodded, inviting it.

"Doesn't it make the evil one, well, more evil?"

"What?" 

"Well, I'd get fairly bitter if my other self got to go to _Nirvana_" I used the same contempt as he did for Narnia "before I got to, and I keep getting screwed over every lifetime with reincarnation. Obviously, if I myself feel there is something missing right now, that's gonna be doubled when the other half isn't even on the same spiritual plane."

Christo folded his hands in his lap. "I suppose, Tel, but that is human folly." 

"To err is human…" 

He nodded. 

"Yet, Christo, how do we know whether we're the good or the evil?" I spread my hands wide, wondering. "Like the Simpsons, when Bart has a twin hidden in the attic, only, it turns out that he's the evil twin, not the one who's been hidden." 

"I don't know, and I will not pretend that I do. All I can say is, that you should try to be the pure one, and hope the other part of you does the same." 

I slouched in the chair. "Wonderful advice, Christo. Just hope so…knowing my luck, though, I'm the evil one."

"At least if you realize it, you'll be able to change yourself." 

I looked up at him through the bangs that were hanging in my face. "You're saying I'm an evil demon?" 

"You—"

-

"Are you all right?"

I open my eyes; stare up at the ceiling of the temple. Funny, it looked different. I sit up and stare at the person had spoken. "Um, yeah." 

The bald monk looks relieved. "Good. We saw you meditating, then you just…fell over."

I nod. "Yeah. So, have you seen Christo?" 

"Who?" He frowns. 

"Christo. The monk. Crazy ideas about Narnia and Nirvana." I rest my arm on my knee, thoughtfully setting my chin on it as well. 

He steps back cautiously, trying not to set me off, I gather. "I am not familiar with his name, no. Do you mean Kingo?" 

I shake my head. "No. Chris-to." 

"No. No one by his name." 

I shrug, getting up. I brush off my pants and toss my hair over my shoulder. The black looked unnatural on me, one of the curses of trying not to embarrass Savannah: wearing a wig. 

I have to wonder, though. If this guy didn't know Christo, what was this? I don't remember going to the inner temple, and it didn't look like this anyway. I've spaced out before, going through an entire science class that way, but…

"Here." He pushes my Dairy Queen bag and diet coke towards me; my Andy Mac shoes in his other hand. I accept them, slipping on the shoes and heading out the front door. Bright light blinds me, a cause for further concern. When I entered, it had been night. This was…noon, judging by the position of the sun in the sky. I really need to start wearing a watch. 

Choosing to go right, I join many others on the beaten path that appears to serve as a sidewalk. Obviously this was a crazed fantasy of mine, who knew why I'd choose to have it now. Usually I save it for biology or calculus. All of the women wore dresses. Both the male and female dress showed signs of East Asian influences. That's what I deserved for reading so much manga. 

I pass a quiet building and then double back. I stand for a moment, using it to protect my back as I catch my bearings. I closed my eyes to block out the sight of the city, and to focus on the sound. 

"But I'm hungry!" I hear the voice that sounds like it's right in front of me. I peek from under my eyelids, but it isn't. 

"You're always hungry. We'll eat later." A second voice, from further away. 

"I'm hungry now…why can't we stop?" I have to smile, he sounds so much like Tim. Always hungry and overdramatic.

"Baka, you won't die if you don't eat for five minutes." I open my eyes. I have to see the speakers for myself.

"I might!" The hungry one, roughly my height, pleads with another, taller, with blond hair. The shorter one drops down dramatically on the path, but he is ignored by his companion. I wait a moment, looking after the nasty one, then kneel next to the boy still lying on the ground. 

I place my hand on his shoulder; he looks up at me without moving his head. "Here, take this," I set the bag with the fries in it by his head. "And," I take one final sip of the pop before placing it next to the bag, "this too. Hope you don't mind it's half empty." 

"Arigatou," he said as he sits up and reaches for the bag. I smile, catching sight of the blond returning. "See you later," I jump over his legs and head out across the street.

-

"—said it, not me…"

I blinked at Christo. I was back? How? One minute, I was here talking to him, then I was imagining I was in a temple in…somewhere, and now he was just finishing his sentence? And where did the Dairy Queen bag go? Did I really…

I realized I was still staring at him. "Right. I should go." 

Christo nodded, used to my unannounced arrivals and rapid departures. 

"Thanks for…the conversation." I said, standing up. 

Standing as well, Christo bowed his head. "I shall see you again, Tel." 

"Right Christo, I'll see you later." I walk silently down the hall, feeling much weirder than before. Why would I have spaced myself out to some foreign land, when usually I'm just thinking about the latest episode of Spongebob? I seriously needed to think about getting myself a therapist, more so than just Christo. Maybe it was the whole Narnia thing Christo had mentioned. 

I slipped on my Andy Macs, shaking off the feeling of déjà vu. That was my imagination. Only my imagination. Though why would I imagine that I give some guy French fries…

Probably the same reason I sleep with my clothes on. You never know what things will happen when. Best to be prepared. I shut the door to the Temple carefully behind me, walking towards the Beaumont in relative silence. I didn't want to think about the quietness, but it was glaringly obvious from the crunching of snow beneath my feet. I slid the key in the door, but it wouldn't turn. Trying not to think about the parking lot horror stories and therefore avoiding panic, I finally got it to unlock the beast. Once inside, I locked the doors again. Leaving the engine off, I gripped the steering wheel, trying to get my thoughts in order.


	2. Ni

Tel Me More

_I probably did overdo the non-Saiyuki, I won't argue against that, but it's kind of important to bounce between the two. It'll stay with Saiyuki for good soon. Thanks to the reviewer. Hope this makes up for it. As I continue writing, I'm beginning to find that my main character annoys me. I still don't own anything, and I've cleverly disguised my disclaimer within my author's notes. Any idea on who the figure is? _

_I'm hoping that no one is too OoC, but I haven't read my manga for a while, and I've never seen any of the anime…_

Okay. This won't happen again. I will not imagine that I'm in a Buddhist temple somewhere in a crazy country, where women are still required to wear skirts, and—I'm not wearing this stupid wig anymore. Reaching up, I pulled it off, freeing long, brightly dyed hair. Savannah hated it, so whenever we did something outside of school I wore a Morticia-Addams-style black wig so she wouldn't complain too much. Of course, the piercings still pissed her off…she was a bit of a mother. 

Mother was probably my favourite swear…you're a mom…my mom…my mother…you mother! Easily changed into an AA rating, if the situation calls for it. Sighing, I looked at the ouzo Chen had given me hanging from my review mirror. At times like this…maybe they might help…'this won't happen again.'

I reached to turn the key, pushing my face into the steering wheel. Why did my imagination have to do this to me? 

-

I pull my face back, rubbing my now-sore nose. Bad idea to use a steering wheel as a pillow. 

"Here." 

I look up at an old fashioned dressed woman. "_Quo_?" 

She sighs, dropping the mug onto the table I was sitting at. She leaves without another word. I sit there for a moment in silence. Um, kay, it happened again. Damn. Or as I would say, damn. I reach for the mug, pull it closer, and look at its contents. The dark amber liquid swirled enticingly, so I lift it to drink. 

Just before I do, the table snaps in half, probably because of the guy thrown across it. He doesn't get up, and the man I assume that placed him there was snarling near an overturned card table. I calmly take a cautious sip. It's beer, and not the good kind either. Many of the occupants of the bar stare in my direction. Becoming self-conscious and quite disgusted at the taste of the beer, I dump the still full glass over the fallen one beside me. 

He sits up, shaking beer out of long red hair. As he glares up at me, I decide to toss the mug at him as well. A noise from his opponent draws his attention from me to the dark-haired body builder still standing amongst the ruins of a poker game, chips strewn about the floor. 

"You cheated!" Black says, shaking his fist at the redhead. 

"I did not!" Red protests as he stands up. "Can I help it if I'm lucky?" 

"Luck doesn't suddenly give you cards that I just laid down." Black steps forward, threatening again with his fist. Suddenly, there's a hand on his fist, holding it still. Black looks to the newcomer, who simply smiles. "There's no need to get violent. Call things even." 

Black wrenches his hand away from Smiles and snarls. "He cheated! I won't forgive a cheater!" 

Smiles tries to calm Black down again. I think this is my cue to exit. I stand, and begin moving around the crowd to the open door. I trip over someone slumped on the floor, and end up standing in the space cleared for the fight. Black is on one side, and Red is on the other. Smiling nervously, I decide to go through to the door. 

Most of the attention shifts to me. Red takes that chance to appear on Black's other side. I assume he and Smiles are in league with each other, as it looks like they are planning a sneak attack. No one else is paying attention to them, it feels like all eyes are on me.

"Demon!" The serving woman shrieks, pointing vaguely in our direction. I notice how the other two look at each other, saying something without words. She says it again, this time pointing at me. "A youkai!" 

I shake my head, trying to look innocent. "Oh, me? No, you must be mistaken." Despite my denial, the bar occupants begin moving closer, rather menacingly, in my opinion. I back up slowly, towards the open door. Both of the other two, Red and Smiles, back up with me. I'm right in front of the door when a man holding a bottle in one hand and a gun in the other aims in my direction. 

Ignoring the little voice that yells _coward!_ I fly out the door. I don't feel my feet hit the ground outside at all, but I notice that Red and Smiles have joined my escape. People pour out of the door, yelling "Youkai! Demon!" all the while. Great. Now they think I'm a demon, assuming that youkai means the same thing. Sure, I had a safety pin in my ear, but that's only because I broke the hoop that I usually wore in that hole this morning. 

As I look over my shoulder, my feet don't remember what to do, and they stumble, causing me to fall to the ground. Smiles grabs my arm and pulls me up, and we continue running. I don't know why he did that, but I was grateful. I'd rather not be trampled by illiterate drunken townspeople.

Although, if I'm imagining this, I'd be fine. I'd be invincible. I wouldn't die, now would I? Still, I keep running, until I pass the other two, who stop at a vehicle. Lucky buggers, I'd have to go until the angry villagers decided their twisted version of that scene Beauty and the Beast when they're after the Beast would have to stop. Breathing heavily now, I curse the fact my coat is so heavy. 

I hear the sound of a car behind me. _Damnit, _I think, _now they've brought out the big guns…I'm going to hurt something…probably myself. _The car is now beside me, the occupants yelling something. A jeep… 

One of them, the redhead from the bar, leans over the side, holding out an arm. Glancing backwards at the crowd that is gaining, I don't hesitate. Grabbing onto it with both hands, I run a bit farther to gain momentum, jump, and hope to land on—

-

I found myself back behind the steering wheel, car running, radio playing Cake. I shook my head. This was really starting to creep me out. Grabbing the steel pot helmet from the back seat since there would probably still be someone running around with a gun, I fumbled with the door latch before getting out. Leaving the door open and the keys in, I ran for the temple. Maybe Chen would know—

**-**

I push the helmet back from my eyes, instantly recognizing the terrain. 

 "Tuercas. Maldición. Pipi là-dessus. Merde. My mother." I swore in Spanish and French. Luckily this time there were no Buddhists. They were like… were like… everywhere. Probably responsible for my hallucinations. 

Something was different this time, though, more so than just the fact that I hadn't been around anything Buddhist. I look down and notice with surprise that I am floating about three feet off the ground. 

This reminds me of a badly dubbed martial arts movie I watched on cable. I spin around, then do a somersault in mid air. I strike a pose like Jet Li. "Judo _chop!_" 

I hear a noise behind me; I spin around again, liking the feeling. Of course, there _is_ a lot to be said for using feet. Looking down, I see a girl of about ten crouching on the ground.

"P-p-please don't h-hurt me," she whimpers, using her shawl as a shield, hiding her face. "I-I-I didn't meant to…"

I jump from my airborne position to the ground, she cries out in fear. Why? I reach out to reassure her. Shrinking away from my hand, she covers her entire head in the shawl. 

"Listen," I begin, sitting back, "I'm not going to hurt you. Why would you think that?" 

"B-b-because," she kept herself hidden, "that's wh-wh-what d-demons do."

Right, okay, the demon thing again. I set the helmet back further. "Hate to disappoint you, but I'm not a demon. Or a youkai, for that matter."

"Y-y-you're not?" Success! An eye peeks out.

I shake my head. "Nope."

"Then why were you f-floating?" I don't think she's as scared; she's losing her stutter.

"Low center of gravity." I smirk, spreading my hands wide. She flinches, and recovers her head. I sigh. "Listen, okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Still no reaction. "I promise, I won't hurt you." 

"D-d-do you swear?" Her eye reappears. She sticks out one hand, pinkie extended. I smile. Some things are the same here…wait. When did I decide this wasn't my imagination? Probably when it happened mid-run. And when I realized that no time was passing. 

I grasp her pinkie with mine, and we shake firmly. "I swear, upon my honour as a member of—"

I stop. Standing quickly, I push her behind me. Some protection I'd be, being unarmed and with no protection beyond a pot helmet on my head, looking like the time when Thad's GI Joe met my Barbie, but still…

A figure stepped out of the bushes. I frowned. 

This…

…can't be good.


	3. San

Tel Me More

_Right. Okay. Next thing. What the heck am I thinking? I have no idea. Yes, there is a plot! _

_Um, recap. There's a figure stepping out of the bushes. _

I stand still, not moving from my position protecting the girl. The figure comes closer; I can see it's a woman, dressed similarly to the girl. 

"Hai?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. 

She stops in front of me when I growl. Growl? Since when do I do that? Must be all the talk of me being a demon. "I see you have found my daughter." 

"Your daughter?" I can feel from the girl's aura that this woman lies. "Then what's her name?" 

The woman pauses, hesitates. "Nanashi." 

I remember I don't know her name either. "Eh, girl," I whisper over my shoulder, "is she right?"  

"No," I hear her say, "she's wrong." 

Straightening, I place my hands on my hips in a Superman pose. "I think you're wrong, woman." 

"What?" She hisses, drawing nearer. 

I hold out a hand. "Stop. Come no closer." Surprisingly enough, she did. I try to laugh evilly, tossing my head. I gag for a moment as the helmet falls off and the strap chokes me. Clearing my throat, feeling a little embarrassed, I place it back on and tighten the strap. 

"Why should I listen to you?" The woman asks, yet keeps her distance. 

"Because," I say nonchalantly, looking at my nails, "I…well, okay, I don't really have any way to convince you, except that I won't let you take…uh…"

"Minako!" The voice comes from behind me. I look the woman in the eyes, noticing something not quite right with them. "Yeah. I won't let you take Minako." I stand like Superman again. 

"Well," the woman hisses, tossing off her shawl, "I can't let you keep her." 

I can't help my expression of disgust as she reveals her angular face, pointed ears, pointed teeth, and nearly naked body. All together not very human looking, and a little nasty considering that I didn't want to be flashed. 

"Demon!" Minako shrieks from behind me. Ah. 

I look sharply to something behind her. She spins to see what it is, tongue flicking rapidly. Grabbing the girl, I toss her over my shoulder and take a random direction in the bushes. I hear the crashing of bushes behind me, so I increase my pace. I see the trees clearing, so I try to go faster, but I feel the stress of running getting to me. Minako yells something, but I focus instead on the ground. Then, the lack of it. 

I pull myself around the girl, allowing myself to take most of the fall, down the steeply sloped hill. I am so glad for the helmet right now. I wince as we hit another rock, rolling a few times before stopping at the bottom. Getting up immediately, I set Minako on her feet. "Are you all right?" 

"Hai," she says, rubbing her head. "I think so." 

I smile. She has moxie, this girl does. "Good. Come on, I don't want to wait for the naked chick to show up again." 

We turn, and I stop again, protecting Minako behind me. My shoulders slump as I recognize the two guys from the bar, as well as the hungry boy. Patting my pockets nervously, I search for anything that might serve as a weapon. Reaching in the right pocket, I pull out something triumphantly. 

"Ha ha!" I brandish it with pride, then realize it's only my BMW lighter. "Awww…" I stare at its tiny flame. 

"Um…" I feel Minako tugging at my sleeve. Kneeling down to her level, she asks, "what's that supposed to do?" 

I crack a smile. "I'm hoping it will strike terror into their hearts."

"I don't think it's working." Minako says, and I glance over at the three men. I smile ruefully. "I don't either." 

They turn from their conversation amongst themselves to look at us much like we are staring at them. With a start, I realize that the two are from the bar, Red and Smiles. 

"Hey, long time no see," I hold up a hand that could go either way—a wave or half a high five. It stays a wave, since I don't believe that they were familiar with high fives. 

"You!" The redhead scowls. It makes me wonder exactly how my reappearances worked here. Obviously time didn't freeze for the me in this place, so what did happened in the meantime?

"Me! Hi." I wait for some other reaction, Minako standing just in front of me. I set my hands on her shoulders protectively. 

"You, yes?" Smiles frowns in concentration, but I didn't know why. The sentence wasn't all that terribly complicated. Fragmentary, perhaps, but…

"Um, okay," I say, shrugging my shoulders. 

Red raises his staff, brandishing the end in my face. No, not quite correct, it really wasn't a staff, what with the thingy attached to a chain attached to the staff. He might look scary, if I wasn't too incredibly stupid to be scared. The girl in front of me was, shaking beneath my hands. "Are you afraid now?" 

 "Well, this just may be overkill, since I don't know whether I can actually die." I shrug casually. 

"What?" He doesn't lower the weapon, but is confused just the same. 

"I. Might. Not. Die." 

He grins menacingly. "We'll have to see if that's true, then, won't we?" 

Not good. I pretend to see something behind him. "Why, look you there! Look, how it steals away! My father, in his habit as he lived! Look, where he goes, even now, out at the portal!"

Startled, the three of them turn in the direction I was focusing. "Yoink!" I pick up Minako while they are distracted, toss her under my arm and run back in the opposite direction. 


	4. Shi

Tel Me More

_SHOCK! Appearance of plot! Or at least the foreshadowing of it. I'm not confident in this.  _

I slow once I feel that I have put enough distance between us. Setting Minako on her own feet, I lean slightly to breathe more easily. 

"Daijoubu ka?" she peers up at my face. 

"What?" I ask, confused. 

"Daijoubu ka," she repeats, as if that would make it so much clearer. 

"Um, yeah," I say, still uncertain as to what she said. 

She nods wisely. "Good."

About to shrug, I look over sharply with the sound in the trees. Damn, had they caught up so quickly?

"Hide, Minako," I whisper, turning to the noise. I can feel her disappear into the cover of the bush while I face…the naked snake chick again. "Oh, not you." 

"Me," she hisses, almost pleased. 

"Okay, now you asked for it." I pat my pockets for something—anything that would help. 

I pull out a piece of gum, a pen, a chain of Starburst wrappers, my key chains, an x-acto knife, and my brass knuckles. I place them on my left hand, for no reason, except that they'd been lost and I am not about to leave them on the forest floor. I look in the other pocket, and find a cap gun. Taking off the red cap, I leave that in my pocket. It may be illegal now, but at distance this may buy me more time. 

"Baka," she hisses, sneering at my eight-shot. Only six caps left, if I recall the drive-by capping of the drunken basketball team my friends and I had done. 

I raise it, holding it to the side. "Hey, Chief, can I hold it like this? It makes me feel cool."

She goes back, away from me. "What?"

I grin. Simpsons. I keep it up, until she realizes that I won't shoot—then I blow my one shot—pardon the pun—at a 'weapon'. 

She grins, more sadistically than I. "You think that I would be afraid of that?" 

"That's what I was hoping," I shrug. "Or you'd be afraid of me by sight." 

"Sight?" She asks curiously. "I can barely make out your features under that hat. Are you male or female?" 

"Hey!" I exclaim, offended. "What do you think?" 

I probably shouldn't have, considering the fact it is protecting my head from bashing from unknown sources, but I do it anyway. I pull the strap at my neck loose, and tip the helmet back. "See?" 

She draws back in something akin to horror. "Ninen!" 

"Who and what now?" I frown in confusion, pulling the helmet back on. 

"Ninen!" she says again, holding a hand out in a position I might confuse with surrender, if I didn't know better. She raises her head. "You're not Ninen?" 

I shrug. "Maybe, maybe not. You tell me." I smirk as I realize that she could determine my name from that. "Tel me more." 

With Chen's theory, I could be Ninen, but I was Tel more. Bad pun, I'm sorry, I'm no hamlet. 

"If you're not Ninen…" she trails off, clearly thinking. Then her eyes turn to me, and she grins deadly. 

Hissing, she prepares to jump. I wince as I realize how much pain I would be in once she landed on me, squeeze the trigger, and fire. 


End file.
